Sunday, 14 October 2012

Introverts of the world unite: quietly.

A romantic image of someone enjoying 'me' time that is very far from my reality.

I'm an introvert. I always suspected it.

If I ever mentioned it, people laughed. Because (as several lovely folk have put it), I really love a chat. And I do. I think you can be an introvert, and still love other people.

I read this definition of introverts on the Flying Solo website last week in a piece by David Crocker and it rang so true. It's from a book by Susan Cain called Quiet: The Power Of Introverts.

"Extroverts are energised by being around other people, while an introvert is drained by it. Indeed, introverts are energised by being alone."

It goes on to say that introverts avoid phone calls (they prefer to email or text), don't enjoy meetings, don't answer the phone unless they can see who it is.

I am not a ringer. I just don't ring people. Even the ones I love. Which isn't fair. And I'm sorry.

And this one: thinks of answers to questions five minutes after the conversations has moved on. The story of my life.

Introverts also struggle in brain-storming meetings. I know I do. At least I did when I had my other job in my other life. My mind goes blank. I have to go away and hide and then it comes up with all sorts of stuff.

And they LOVE working from home.

I cannot tell you how much I love walking into the quiet house after the school dropoff. And the best days are the ones where I can just stay there all day. Curled up in my burrow, looking at the outside world through my computer screen instead of living it.

Sounds a bit sad when you put it like that. Bugger.

But I love a good party, I love having people over, I love going out. I just need a bit of quiet time afterwards to recharge.

The kids like to recharge too, often while sitting on me or near me. Maybe I'm like their electrical plug. There is one sitting on the floor next to me right now. Pretending not to be there so she doesn't get banned from the study for talking. Just being close.

He's what Peter Crocker from Flying Solo said:

"Cain goes to great lengths to explain that she loves extroverts – indeed she married one – and that teamwork, charisma and collaboration are all very important in business.

However, in her book she argues that modern society undervalues introverts dramatically and that our schools and work places are biased towards extroverts and collaboration, despite more than one third of people identifying as introvert."

One third! That's a lot of people who like 'me' time. Are there so many of us, fighting their inner introvert and getting amongst it every day?

This came up when I typed 'alone' into the search engine of the free photo website. Pretty huh?

We must all unite. But not for long, because we'll get twitchy and need to go off by ourselves for a bit...

About Me

Mum of 3, copywriter, optimist. Every day I'm amazed and energised by the people I am privileged to share my days with, my gorgeous family and the community I live in. I am also bemused, befuddled, bedazzled and humbled. Sometimes I am outraged and infuriated. I suffer from an inability to be quiet most of the time, I hope to use this to my advantage on this blog. At the same time I also recognise the importance of occasionally keeping my mouth shut. Hence the name which is a motto shared by my bestie and I and frequently keeps us out of trouble